Tag Archives: textured

Manicure Monday: Jinx

Posted on by

Welcome back, reader! It’s been a long time since I got to wear a Liquid Sand polish; I’d forgotten how fun and pretty they are! This is Jinx; I’m wearing three coats without top coat.

mmoj

mmoj2

Jinx is an orange-coral polish with tons of gold shimmer, and of course, a textured finish. The application with these is always tricky for me; The first coat goes on cleanly, and then with continued use, the brush that’s full of glitter and polish fans out wider than my nail and it makes a mess. At least the glitter is fine and cleanup is easy.

mmoj3

mmoj4

As you may remember, Jinx was part of the Bond Girls collection from 2013. I remember I really struggled with this collection; I’m not a fan of the 007 films — I’ve never actually seen one, in fact — so I felt a little weird about buying them. Eventually, I justified by telling myself it’s not the inspiration that matters, but the polishes themselves. This led to the dilemma of which one I was going to get, and whether I could justify spending my grocery money on the whole collection. I ended up finding an Amazon seller selling the whole collection for about $35.

mmoj5

mmoj6

This is one of the best Liquid Sand polishes I’ve used yet. A lot of them seem to lean hard to either visible texture or tons of glitter, and this one lands right in the middle. It’s obviously textured, but it’s not the main focus of the polish. The glitter and shimmers are there, but they don’t take over the look, either. It’s perfectly, beautifully balanced.

Jinx and the other Bond Girl polishes seem to be discontinued by OPI, but are probably still available in shops and online. My bow charm is from Claire’s.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Emerald & Ash’s California Stop

Posted on by

Swatch Sunday comes to you in a more timely manner today. I’m excited to show you California Stop from Emerald & Ash. It’s from their textured Road Trip collection. I’m wearing three coats without top coat.

IMG_52152

IMG_52172

IMG_52262

IMG_52292

California Stop is a brick red jelly with shimmer and reflective silica beads; the silica beads are what gives this polish its texture. The texture is fine and still pretty smooth to the touch. I thought the drying times were good; my nails were bathroom dry in about fifteen minutes. Applying it was tricky; with all the beads and reflective goodness in it, the brush widened quite a bit, and was wider than my smaller nails. This made application on my thumb really nice, but made a mess on my pinky. I don’t blame this on the polish, just on my small hands. I got perfect opacity in three coats, though those who use lighter coats may need more.

IMG_52332

IMG_52402

Inspired by the ever-present red stop sign, this color is the exact shade of sun-aged red found in signs all over my neighborhood. To me, it evokes childhood memories of being in the car with my mother, driving around in my grandparents’ suburb, seeing the faded signs, the palm trees in every yard, and the sun in my eyes. Now that I think about it, that car was the same color as those signs.

IMG_52492

 

IMG_52522

 

The polishes in the Road Trip collection were the first textured indie polishes I’d ever seen, and I just thought they were really cool. They aren’t as coarse as mass-market textures, and they are beautiful in their shimmery monochrome simplicity. Also, at the time, I was getting ready to embark on a two week long road trip with a friend, so I was all about road tripping. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any of the polishes until recently, and by then, three of the seven were out of stock. It’s a shame, because there really isn’t anything else like them in my collection.

The reflective effect works best in dimmer, direct light, so in bright midday sunshine, it’s not as obvious. Out here, you get the shimmer and color of the polish, but not the reflective effect.

IMG_52002

IMG_52062

California Stop, as well as three of the other Road Trip collection polishes, are still in stock on the Emerald & Ash website. They are clearance priced, so it’s likely quantities are limited.

I bought this polish myself.

Manicure Monday: What Wizardry is This?

Posted on by

What’s this? A textured polish two weeks in a row? Yes! It’s crazy. This is What Wizardry is This? from OPI; I’m wearing three coats without top coat.

IMG_15802

IMG_15922

IMG_16012

What Wizardry is This? is a warm brown textured polish with gold glitters. I found this application much easier than Solitaire‘s; Solitaire’s brush was spread wide with glitter, and even though this polish also contains a ton of glitter, the brush was not as wide, and I had a much cleaner application. Drying time was very fast, and full coverage was gained in two coats. The glitters are very potent, which is why it looks more brown in some photos and more gold in others. It’s a very pretty and interesting look.

IMG_16182

I like when I end up wearing something seasonally relevant. Solitaire was wintry and peaceful, but What Wizardry is This? is very warm and autumnal. It’s the color of hot cocoa and firewood. This is absolutely perfect for fall.

IMG_16302

I don’t have any brown nail charms, so I used a stud. Earlier in the year, I got a huge pack of nail accoutrements at an outlet store for super cheap, and this is the first time I’ve used any of it. Originally, I’d chosen a heart-shaped one, but it wouldn’t sit flat on my nail, so I went with this diamond/Sims plumbob shape instead. I like it. It takes up more of the nail than I wanted, but it’s a fun accent.

IMG_16412

I wasn’t sure about this at first. When I got it, the Liquid Sand bandwagon was at full speed, and I just wanted all of them. I don’t own very many brown polishes, just because it’s not a very popular color. It’s also not very daring. This is more than just brown, though. It’s gorgeous.

Manicure Monday: Solitaire

Posted on by

Hey, guys! I’m super excited about Manicure Monday this week because I get to wear a textured polish. I’ve only featured one other on the blog, so it feels a little like a special occasion. I’m wearing three coats of OPI’s Solitaire without top coat.

IMG_12662

IMG_12702

IMG_12822

Solitaire is a ton of silver glitter in a sheer white base that dries with a matte texture. It goes on pretty frosty at first, but when the lacquer dries away the frost disappears, leaving behind silvery sparkles. I felt like three coats were necessary with this, because the white base is very sheer, and I wanted full opacity and lots of texture. It dries pretty quickly, since there’s so little lacquer. The consistency is thick, naturally, since there’s so much glitter. Application isn’t too bad, but when the brush has polish in it, it fans out and is wider than some of my nails, and makes a little bit of a mess.

IMG_12902

IMG_12952

It’s so worth it, though! I was a little unsure about this polish at first, because I remember being a teensy bit less-than-impressed with the Bond Girls collection, especially in comparison to Mariah Carey’s collection. It just seemed like the Bond Girls collection focused more on matte texture than glitter, and the glitters were the reason I bought them in the first place. This one is nice, though. There’s a nice balance between texture and glitter. It’s also season-appropriate; my nails look like tiny snow-covered driveways. It’s adorable.

IMG_13022

IMG_13052

Final word: Solitaire is textured and sparkly, but is still delicate. It’s a perfect match for the cooler temperatures and the upcoming winter season.

Manicure Monday: Vesper

Posted on by

It’s Manicure Monday again, and I’m excited because it’s a wacie.com first: textured polish! I’ve been buying these up like mad, but this is the first time I’ve ever featured one on the blog. This is OPI’s Liquid Sand in Vesper; I’m wearing three coats of it without topcoat.

IMG_56602

IMG_56632

IMG_56762

Vesper is a deep plum polish with black grainy glitter. You can’t see much of the purple, except around the edges of the nails. The first coat presented more purple, but multiple coats makes it harder to see. It dries with a coarse, gritty texture, as is intended. It sparkles a bit more in lower lighting; in the studio, it just kind of looks like spray-on truck bed liner. I couldn’t capture that in the studio. I probably could have in the sunlight, but I was late taking pictures today and it was pretty dusky by the time I got outside.

IMG_56852

IMG_56892

IMG_56952

IMG_56972

This isn’t to say I don’t like this polish, because I do. Nothing says summer fun like a plum, right? However, it’s not my favorite Liquid Sand. My favorites are still the ones with more emphasis on the glitter than on the texture. In any case, it’s a cool look, and I’m not sure if textured polishes are passe yet, but I’m happy to finally get around to reviewing one.